Ethnobotany. Lecture 4

Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 Alexey Shipunov Minot State University January 16, 2013 Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 1 / 39

Outline 1 Main food source plants: grains Oat Rice 2 Indian rice, Zizania Digitaria exilis, fonio Eragrostis tef, tef Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 2 / 39

Outline 1 Main food source plants: grains Oat Rice 2 Indian rice, Zizania Digitaria exilis, fonio Eragrostis tef, tef Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 2 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat Main food source plants: grains Oat Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 3 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat Oat (Avena) Belongs to different tribe, Aveneae Morphology is also different: oats have branched inflorescence, panicle Several species in cultivation, as a forage plants (especially for horses) and as cereals Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 4 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat Oat features Hardy culture, cultivated mostly in temperate regions, yield relatively low, is 1 ton/hectare Grains contain high amounts of proteins and lipids Mostly spring forms (winter cultivars also exist); life cycle longer than in barley (should be planted earlier in a spring) Not sensitive to many fungal diseases Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 5 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat Oat taxonomy Several dozens species, only two are widely cultivated Avena byzantina, red oat, is more hardy and also better adapted to dry climates, has long grains Avena sativa, common oat, main cultivated oat, has shorter grains Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 6 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat Origin of oats Red oat is a domesticated form of wild oat, Avena sterilis. Cultivation started with invention of big cavalry armies ( 400 BC) of Alexander the Great Common oat was the weed of emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), and became pure culture when crops went northward (similar to rye) Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 7 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Red oat, Avena byzantina Oat Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 8 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Common oat, Avena sativa Oat Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 9 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Oat ancestor, Avena sterilis Oat Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 10 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Main food source plants: grains Rice Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 11 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Rice (Oryza sativa) Belong to the tribe Oryzeae Has panicle as an inflorescence, flowers with 6 stamens (uncommon in grasses) More than half of human population use rice as a main food source Cultivated mostly in tropics and subtropics, below 42 latitudes Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 12 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Rice features High calories (360 cal / 100 g), up to 10% of proteins, including lysine amino acid (!) White (polished) rice does not contain embryo and therefore deficient of many vitamins; beriberi disease is a deficiency of vitamin B 1 (tiamine) originated in richer families of Indonesia (because they were wealthy enough to buy a better rice) Rice is not used for bread, if cooked it become extremely brittle Yield is higher than wheat, 6 ton/hectare Rice is a coastal plant, requiring water, especially when young; seedlings are often manually planted in the soil covered with water Ancestrally, rice requires monsoon climate: first season is wet (rice germinates), second is dry (rice matures) Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 13 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Rice taxonomy 28 species, only one is widely cultivated: Oryza sativa, common rice Several main varieties, including Japanese (short-grain) and Indian (long-grain) rice. Japanese variety has sticking (high proteins) and non-sticking forms. Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 14 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Rice origin and history First remains (Thailand) are 7,000 BC; mass cultivation started in East Asia 4 5,000 BC Most probably, perennial Oryza perennis is a wild relative of cultivated rice Came to Europe with Arabs in first millennium From 1865, is cultivated in U.S. (first plantations in North Carolina) After the Green Revolution in 1960s, genetically modified rice cultivars allow to finish hunger in India and China Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 15 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Rice agriculture Seeds are germinated in nurseries After several weeks, seedling are transplanted (often manually) to flooded fields Water should be removed after 1 2 month from transplanting There are also mountain rice which does not require flooding (but yield is less) Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 16 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Common rice, Oryza sativa Rice Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 17 / 39

Rice flower Main food source plants: grains Rice Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 18 / 39

Main food source plants: grains Rice Ancestor of rice, Oryza perennis Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 19 / 39

Indian rice, Zizania Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 20 / 39

Indian rice, Zizania Indian rice, Zizania Small (3 species) genus of water grasses distributed in East Asia and North America Big (up to 1.5 m), partly submerged grasses with unisexual flowers Inflorescences are panicles Has a long grains Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 21 / 39

Indian rice, Zizania Zizania aquatica, or manoomin Only one species was used by Native Americans Odjibwe name manoomin, Dakota name psi Half-cultivated (supported but not planted) Stems tied (precaution against birds), then harvested from canoe Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 22 / 39

Ricing 1 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 23 / 39

Ricing 2 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 24 / 39

Ricing 3 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 25 / 39

Ricing 4 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 26 / 39

Ricing 5 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 27 / 39

Ricing 6 Indian rice, Zizania Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 28 / 39

Digitaria exilis, fonio Digitaria exilis, fonio Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 29 / 39

Digitaria exilis, fonio Digitaria exilis, fonio Main crop of West Africa The only cultivated species of big ( 300 species) genus Digitaria Low, heavily branched grasses Grains are extremely small (2 3 mm); however, the yield is comparable with primitive wheats Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 30 / 39

Digitaria exilis, fonio Fonio agriculture Well adapted to short days, hight temperatures and low precipitation Need only surface development of soil, planted by scattering Manual harvesting and threshing Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 31 / 39

Fonio Digitaria exilis, fonio Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 32 / 39

Fonio threshing Digitaria exilis, fonio Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 33 / 39

Eragrostis tef, tef Eragrostis tef, tef Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 34 / 39

Eragrostis tef, tef Eragrostis tef, tef One of the main cultures of East Africa Used for making bread Small, branching plants with small spikelets and grains Grains are rich of iron (used also for medical purposed, for treating anemia) Well adapted to high altitudes Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 35 / 39

Tef Eragrostis tef, tef Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 36 / 39

Tef grains Eragrostis tef, tef Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 37 / 39

Eragrostis tef, tef Summary Rye and common oat were originated from weeds Rice is the old culture with extremely complicated agriculture but high yield Wild, or Indian rice was the only grain used widely in northern tribes Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 38 / 39

For Further Reading Eragrostis tef, tef P. Stamp. Virtual cereal cultivar garden [Electronic resource]. 2008. Mode of access: http://www.sortengarten.ethz.ch/?content=start A. Shipunov. Ethnobotany [Electronic resource]. 2011 onwards. Mode of access: http://ashipunov.info/shipunov/school/biol_310 Shipunov (MSU) Ethnobotany. Lecture 4 January 16, 2013 39 / 39